A fire rages in a building in Prospect Lefferts Gardens section of Flatbush on July, 26, 2012. (credit: twitter.com/fdny)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A lightning strike sparked a massive fire that broke out in an apartment building in the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens section of Flatbush Thursday morning, seriously injuring a firefighter and leaving dozens homeless.

A lighting strike hit 456 Brooklyn Ave. at 9:47 a.m. and the 7-story building on New York Avenue caught fire at 10:08 a.m., according to the FDNY.

The fire quickly grew to multiple alarms. Some 220 firefighters battled the six-alarm blaze before bringing it under control four hours later.